Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Hollow Men (Star Trek Deep Space Nine (Unnumbered Paperback))

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Hollow Men, by Una McCormack, is one of those "love it or hate it" types of novels. It's a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine story that takes place during the series itself (as opposed to afterwards, as the latest DS9 books have been). In the series episode, "In the Pale Moonlight," Captain Sisko had to go against all of his ethics in order to trick the Romulans into joining the Dominion War, as the Federation was losing. The situation spiraled out of control until he was guilty of countenancing murder in order to get the job done. Hollow Men is the aftermath, and it's told in McCormack's normal style. Not many "events" occur, and the book lives or dies on whether you believe in (and are intrigued by) the characterizations and the internal aspects of the plot. Me? I loved it. But your mileage may vary.

After the events of the television episode, Sisko is on his way back to Earth to attend a conference, the first one that the Romulans will be a part of. Starfleet Intelligence wants Garak, the Cardassian tailor and ex-spy who performed most of the skullduggery, to come along. Sisko is being eaten up by guilt for his actions, trying desperately to justify them internally but hating himself more and more, and this carries over to Garak. Garak, of course, is concerned that Sisko will break and confess everything, and he's certain he's going to end up in a Federation prison. When they get to Earth, however, they get wrapped up in more intrigue, as an ex-starfleet officer turned peace activist becomes even more important to the entire war effort, and secrets that should never be revealed are in danger of coming out.

McCormack is the author of the Cardassian story in The Worlds of Bajor: Volume One, which I happened to love. Her characterization of Garak was dead-on in that story, and she captures him very well in this one too. His sarcasm and general wit are evident, but we also see his cunning and his intelligence. When he gets wrapped up in the Starfleet Intelligence plot, he is determined to follow his own path to finish the job, and he will even refuse to do the job if he doesn't like what he finds out. He's calm under pressure, he knows what torture is like and so is ready when he's about to be on the other end of it than he's used to. I especially loved his reactions to the peace protests when Sisko takes him to one of them. He honestly can't believe that such a protest would be allowed during war time, and thinks back longingly to the days on Cardassia where stuff like this would be stamped out immediately. He has plenty of traditionally Garak quips. Basically, if you like Garak, you should love this book.

Sisko's guilt is also extremely well done. Even better is his reaction when he doesn't get the reaction he quite expected upon revealing what happened. He searches desperately for something to salve his conscience, and while this might seem out of character for the Sisko we know, to me it seemed realistic for a man who has transgressed his principles as far as he has. He knows what happened was necessary, but he feels like he should be punished. The various attempts he makes to get that to happen are excellent, ending in a wonderful discussion with the one person who he can depend on to talk him through this.
There is also a story that takes place on DS9, involving Odo and a shipment of latinum (the main currency outside of the Federation). This plotline isn't as interesting as the main one, and it doesn't even tie into the main story until the end (in a way that, admittedly, comes out of left field a little bit, and is my only real problem with the book). All of the characters are well done, but there wasn't that much to really grab me until near the middle of the book. Some people have claimed that a fault with the book is that nothing happens for long periods of time. While this is true, I found myself so fascinated with the Sisko and Garak storyline, and interested enough in the station plot that I didn't really notice.

I said that Hollow Men was a "love it or hate it" type of book, and basically it boils down to whether or not you like McCormack's style. So far, she's written two novels for the Star Trek line, and both of them have been more internal books with events taking place as conversations between characters that advance the plot, or dealing with issues rather than events. I think that she does a lovely job getting you into the minds of the characters, and enough happens that I'm not bored by them. There is always some action later on in the story, and this book is no exception. But she takes great pains to set up the action, making sure the action stems from the characters rather than just throwing in a random battle or two. Occasionally, the set up drags too long, as with the story on the station here, and it threatens to lose the reader. But I could hear Avery Brooks (Sisko) and Andrew Robinson (Garak) speak a lot of the lines she gives them, and they carry their sections even before anything actually happens in the story.

Overall, Hollow Men is an excellent entry in the Deep Space Nine saga. If you've read McCormack's previous book, your opinion of that will probably determine whether you agree with me here. However, I can definitely say that this book is worth a try, especially if you're a fan of our favourite Cardassian tailor. This one is up near the top of my Trek book list for 2005.

David Roy

I was interested to find out how I would like this book, based on the varied ratings here on amazon. "Hollow Men" seems to be one of those love it or hate it books. I personally loved it, but I can understand why some people didn't. The cover of the book touted it as "A Tale of the Dominion War" - and it was. It just wasn't about the fighting. This was about the effects of decision made in war, and their repercussions on events, people and one's soul. People expecting a lot of action will not enjoy this book as much. People who want an in-depth character study focused on the internal struggles of DS9 characters that we all know love I think will get a lot of enjoyment out of these
books.

First of all, I wanted to say that McCormack *really* got the
characters down in this. The feel of when this book was set came off perfectly as well. I recently finished watching DS9 for the very first time and as I was reading this book I could 'hear' and 'see' the characters vividly. In fact, this book flowed so smoothly, that it could have been a very good two parter of the show. The author clearly was "in tune" with the characters and the actors portrayal, and even the internalizations by the characters felt like their thoughts. Very well done.

The story has an A and B plot to it, much like the episodes themselves.

The A plot covers Sisco and Garak heading to earth for a conference of the new Alliance (Federation, Klingon, and Romulan), and both of their struggling with the consequences of their actions a few weeks earlier when the two of them got the Romulans to enter the Dominion war due to their covert and illegal actions. Truly gripping stuff as Sisco tries to work out through his actions. Garak's portrayal was spot on as well as he had a very different perspective on those events. I found myself
locked on the book in the 'A' plot throughout the book. This is DS9 in the finest tradition.

The 'B' plot is a story about Odo and to some extent Quark. In it Odo is trying to prevent a crime from happening on DS9. Again the author got the character portrayals down pat - Odo, Quark, Jadzia, and Bashir are all portrayed true to form. I also could see/hear/ it all.

If the 'B' plot had any flaw, it was that it wasn't as gripping as the 'A' plot. It was well written and interesting to read, but I guess it is a testament to how good the 'A' plot . In the end, the two plots come together, which was a surprise, because I kept wondering if they were related, or if the 'B' plot was just well written filler. Suffice to say they did come together, and in an interesting way. If the book has any flaw at all it was that the "coming" together wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be.

All said and done, I give the book 4.5 out of 5, and thank the author for taking me with Sisco and Garak as they worked through their moral dilemmas. I look forward to reading more from this author. If you want a great character study, check this book out. It firmly resides in my DS9 personal continuity with honor.

As a major fan of DS9 for over a year and a half now, I've had the chance to read a great many DS9 books and this is undoubtedly one of my favorites. It meshes current day topics with all the flare and suspense that Star Trek has to offer. It continues on the highly-rated 6th season episode, "In the Pale Moonlight", bringing up alot of questions and theories that were presented after that episode and the effects on the series it brought about.

Among my favorite characters, Elim Garak, is a main character and he's presented beautifully here. Una McCormack is one of the very few authors I find to be able to write Garak properly (besides Andy Robinson and the screenwriters themselves), and she does so in a great manner. He's such a complex character and that makes him very hard to tie down in a book. I'm glad to have found one that does just that and takes it one step further.

Undoubtedly, the best part of "Hollow Men" is the subtext of both current and possibly future issues. Almost every angle of each story is presented with proper analogy and explanation while still staying true to the characters and the plot; you never get the feel that the anti-war protestors that Garak and Sisko meet have anything to do with the Iraq War or any other military crisis threatening our time; you only get a handle on what their opinions and thoughts are.

All in all, I enjoy this book, am glad I bought it, and won't be putting it down any time soon.

I should start off by saying that I am a big fan of DS9 and Cardassians in particular. I also have read the author`s other Star Trek works such as The Never Ending Sacrifice and a short story called Face Value prior to buying this book; they left a very positive impression on me with the way the author portrays Garak and other Cardassians. When I picked up this book from the shelf, I expected an interesting and thrilling read that matched the intensity of the episode In The Pale Moonlight it was heavily based off. The description on the back cover boldly proclaimed it would be a "tale of the Dominion War" (it is actually pretty funny that it says nothing of the subplot dealing with the stolen latinum; whoever excluded any mentioning of it must have knew how bad it was).
Instead, I was treated to a case of the most boring and inconsistent Star Trek novel I have read. Instead of facing the unforeseen consequences of their actions and having to make more difficult choices, Sisko and Garak keep on dwelling about their past decisions. Why does Sisko all of a sudden have an urge to tell everyone about his role in the Romulan senator`s assassination when he clearly cast aside his doubts at the end of the episode? He even admitted he would do it all over again if he had to. Garak does pretty much the same exact thing, which is unheard of,
Also, another character - a former Starfleet officer, Sisko` old colleague, and a leader of a new peace movement - goes from a relatively reasonable and charming guy to a psycho in a matter of several pages for no real reason,
The book is filled with unanswered puzzles and the desperate attempt to tie in two separate plots together at the end causes nothing but annoyance. Skip this book - it dd not live up to its potential.

One of the best episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was "In the Pale Moonlight," in which Sisko and Garak plot to fool the Romulans into thinking they need to enter the Dominion War in order to defend themselves. In the process, several people die, and Sisko has those deaths on his conscience afterwards. In this book, he comes to Earth and confesses to his superiors, who shrug it off, much to his shock and eventual dismay. He has to cope with that as well as handling Garak's reactions to the freewheeling life on Earth and to a former Starfleet officer turned peace activist. The latter's motivations appear significant but are never explored in detail, and the conclusion is rather unsatisfying. I was a little disappointed with the book, hoping for something more worthy of its prequel.

This book starts off with a quote from a John Le Carre novel. All I really know about his writing style is that I once tried to read a book of his, but gave it up after I had read a third and nothing had happened. I recalled this little detail when I was halfway through this book ... and nothing had happened. There is almost nothing in this book except people talking or thinking. All those conversations, even the thinking, are written with a subtext, various hints and hidden meanings. An espionage novel where the characters hide things from one another, and to start with the reader, is pretty standard. A novel in which the author never clues the reader in on what is happening is new in my experience. Anyway, the writing style is quite bland. The characters talk and talk and never resolve anything. The characterisations, except for the major characters of the story, are quite shallow. Garak's story strikes me as a standard and rather sordid espionage tale. Garak and his wit are in full play, but even he cannot overcome the banality of the story. Sisko is perfectly portrayed as being moody and depressed and irritable and basically an unpleasant person to be around, or to read about. If key scenes dealt with it, that would be one thing, but he is like that the whole time. The Odo-and-Quark story, back on the station, is reasonably interesting and entertaining. Eventually though it just peters out and, despite some dramatic seeming events, nothing really happens.

With all that said, on considering the conclusion I have the feeling that the book might show an extremely intricate plotline, if I reread it and analysed each section. However, there is no entertainment value in doing so. Nothing in this book caught my interest. For that matter, nothing in this book was offensive or irritating enough to stop reading. In fact, the book never even got quite boring enough to be worth putting aside. There was always Odo's investigation, or some other little hint that something might eventually happen ... until I got to the last page. But in the end, nothing really happens.

I love Star Trek. I also love the episode that this story spun off of. Unfortunately, this book wasn't as good as it could have been. Garak was one of my favorite characters and the interaction between him and Sisko was always amazing. I think that great interaction was lost here. The story was interesting, but the author lost the characters' personalities somewhere along the way.

This was a struggle. I can't remember a Star Trek book that felt like it took me so long to trudge through like with "Hollow Men", the sequel to the DS9 episode "In the Pale Moonlight". However, the story isn't nearly as interesting as that episode was and manages to strangle any life from itself with the slow pacing.

Picking up a few weeks after the events of "In the Pale Moonlight", the novel follows Sisko and Garak's trip to Earth to attend a conference between the Allies, including the Romulans, who are used primarily as a constant reminder to Sisko of what happened to Vreenak. Meanwhile, back at the station, an alien shows up hocking antiques and perhaps dabbling in a little robbery.

In regards to the A and B plots, neither get going until about 250 pages into the novel. Much of what comes before is dry set-up for when things finally do get going. Unfortunately, the novel suffers greatly since the B-Plot seemingly has nothing to do with the A-plot until the last couple of pages where they're nebulously tied together. I didn't know whether to be gratified at any attempt at justifying the time spent on the station story or frustration at the half-developed and hazy subplot that arises from it. I opted for the latter. Either way in the end, I was just glad it was over.

Billed as "A Tale of the Dominion War", "Hollow Men" mentions any fighting only in passing, with the Allies taking yet another pounding as they attack and eventually hold a system. Continuing the aggravating policy of telling Trek readers about the Dominion War instead of showing them, "Hollow Men" squanders a great opportunity to show the galactic consequences of his actions when it could have contrasted what happened on Earth with what was happening on the frontline and see the results good or bad.

Even when focusing on what this book is instead of what it isn't, there's still an appalling lack of substantial tension to drive the story to its conclusion thanks to super-slow pacing, with cutting back and forth between scenes that might have benefited had there been no break-ups inbetween.

Sisko regularly dwells on the two deaths in the episode, although he strangely ignores Vreenak's entourage also killed in the explosion. His constant desire for some kind of punishment feels at odds with the ending of the episode where he says he thinks he can live with it. It's like the book tries to pretend that scene doesn't happen only to go through the same soul-searching and come to the same conclusion. Even if this was ultimately about his finding validation or condemnation through a third party, it just simply wasn't enough to fill the whole novel with a satisfying story and could have worked more as a short story. That the Tal Shiar seemingly know what really happened saps the work of suspense as well.

The only place where "Hollow Men" excells is with the characters and their dialogue. I could really hear the actors speaking the words on the page and that's not easy, especially since it worked for all the characters present. However, Worf is almost completely absent and there is a quibble about Sisko. There's a sense of repetition here as well with Sisko incredulous at how the big bad galaxy really works. Despite what's happened and the knowledge about Section 31, Sisko is almost rather child-like in this way. It's laudable, but also didn't seem like him either.

"Hollow Men" ultimately rings false or "hollow" if you will. It spins its wheels telling much of the same character arc as the episode that inspired it without offering much new to really enjoy it on its own and in fact regresses with a less interesting tale. There are times it gets maddeningly opaque and times it's glaringly obvious. Setting the book back during the series run also doesn't help as there's always that feeling at the back of your mind that nothing really will change. Overall, I'd say stay away from this one.

Let me start out by saying that I love DS9, read all the DS9 books I can find, and especially love the episode about which this book is written.

"In the Pale Moonlight" (on which this book is based) is quite possibly the most original, cleverly written episodes of the entire Star Trek franchise. It is also one of my all time favorite episodes and, as you can well imagine, I was quite delighted to discover that a book continued that particular story line.

Perhaps it should have started like this:
DISCLAIMER: AUTHOR HAS DECIDED TO CHANGE THE PERSONALITIES AND NATURES OF THE CHARACTERS ON WHICH THIS STORY IS BASED.

Garak struggling with his conscience?? And over the murder of (in his words) "one Romulan Senator, and one criminal." The very notion is ridiculous.
The dialogue between characters is amateurish and not at all insightful into their established personalities or relationships with one another.

Also included is a side-story about an odd criminal back on the station who turns out to be a robot. I kept waiting for the revelation of how this side story effected or intersected with the main story, but it never happened. It was neither exciting nor mysterious, just confusing and anticlimactic.

This is the worst Star Trek novel I have ever read.

A well-written but rather depressing little book, with the unduly convoluted plot inevitable when Section 31 is involved but which ultimately accomplishes nothing and feels rather pointless, this story is certainly not good enough to get better than 3 stars, but is too well-written to get less than that. If you enjoy the character of Garak, you may find it interesting; I sometimes do, but this book left me feeling less interested in the character than I was going into it.